KIEV, Ukraine – German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a bilateral ceasefire during a working visit to Kiev on Saturday, and said she believed a diplomatic solution to the bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine was possible.

“Our focus cannot lie with military conflict, which unfortunately is necessary today,” Merkel said during her first visit to the Ukrainian capital since 2008. “There has to be a bilateral cease-fire. Deeds now have to follow words, and I think on the Ukrainian side, much has been done.”

Merkel met with President Petro Poroshenko at his administration building in Kiev on the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day, and ahead of a meeting in Minsk on Tuesday in which the Ukrainian head of state will come face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Diplomats and analysts say the main purpose of Merkel’s visit is to show Germany’s support for Kiev, as Ukrainian forces clash with Russian-backed insurgents in the country’s east, but also to convince Poroshenko that it will be important to listen and consider offers presented by Putin in Minsk.

Taras Berezovets, director of the Kyiv-based political consultancy Berta Communications, told Mashable that Merkel would try to convince Poroshenko not to be too arrogant, and to consider Putin’s proposals.

“She will likely reiterate that Germany will not intervene militarily, so should Russia invade, Ukraine will be on its own,” Berezovets said.

Looking forward to Tuesday's meeting of Ukrainian and Russian heads of states, Merkel said there “must be two sides” for peace talks to be successful. “You cannot achieve peace on your own. I hope the talks with Russia will lead to success,” she said. “The plans are on the table ... now actions must follow.”

Under sunny skies in Kiev, she urged both sides to declare an immediate armistice, but said the bigger obstacle would be controlling the notoriously porous, 1,300-mile Russian-Ukrainian border. The best way to control the boundary, she said, would be for Kiev and Moscow to allow the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor it.

For his part, Poroshenko said he would do everything in his power to see the deal happen. “The Ukrainian side and our European partners will do everything possible to bring about peace — but not at the price of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the independence of Ukraine."

On that note, Merkel also reaffirmed that Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in March, is a part of Ukraine, after German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel commented to a German newspaper that Kiev should forget about it.

“[The annexation] was in violation of the territorial integrity of Europe, and if we recognize this principle, than this may happen all over Europe … So it’s important to recognize the territorial integrity [of the borders established] after the Second World War,” she said.

In Minsk, acceptance of Crimea’s annexation could be part of the deal that Putin is looking to make with Poroshenko, said political analyst Berezovets, who added that the Russian president will push many aims. “In Minsk, Putin will try to persuade Poroshenko to accept the annexation of Crimea, without a doubt,” he said. “Putin is likely to tell Poroshenko, ‘We will withdraw troops from [eastern Ukraine] in the case you recognize Crimea.’”

But letting go of the peninsula is not in the cards for Poroshenko, Berezovets added.

“Crimea is a red line Poroshenko cannot cross. He would lose everything … trust, respect of Ukrainians. It could even lead to a military coup d’état, with nationalist groups like Right Sector and others,” he told Mashable. For Ukrainians, “giving up Crimea is absolutely unacceptable.”

In another show of support, Merkel announced plans to grant Ukraine 500 million euros to rebuild infrastructure in the country’s war-torn Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and said that 20 severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers would be allowed free treatment at top medical facilities in Germany.

“We all remember the Marshall Plan for the post-war Europe. Today, I can say that it is the beginning of the Merkel Plan for the restoration of the infrastructure in the Donbas,” Poroshenko said.

Poroshenko, meanwhile, promised to fulfill his promise of decentralization, granting more power to regional governments and thereby ensuring the language and cultural rights of Russian-speakers.

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